District Goes To Lottery System For Tutition-Based Kindergarten Registrants

WAYNE, N.J. — School officials will begin using a lottery Friday to accommodate students who were registered to attend district’s supplemental kindergarten program.

Nearly 200 students have been registered to attend the school’s district’s supplemental kindergarten program — almost twice the number officials originally anticipated.

Originally, there were five sections for 100 students, but then officials added three more sections for a total of 160 students.

The district will open two sections at Lafayette, Pines Lakes, and Randall Carter schools and one section at James Fallon and Theunis Dey schools, said Superintendent Mark Toaback in a letter to parents last week.

Officials were unable to place every child who was registered to attend Fallon and Theunis Dey schools, Toback said.

All students registered to attend Pines Lake, Randall Carter, and Lafayette were placed into sections at those schools.

The lottery will continue through May 23, Toback said.

The tuition-based kindergarten program costs $250 a month. It was implemented following outcry from parents after officials decided not to move forward with a full-day program due to the cost. The move came months after the Board of Education approved the program.

Residents voted down a referendum that would have allocated $2.1 million to implement the full-day program and raised taxes this year.

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